Skip to main content

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 17 August 2026

SiliconAcademia ("we", "us", "our") is an educational site teaching the chip-design flow, with an optional free account for tracking your progress. This page explains what data we collect, why, and what rights you have over it.

If you never create an account, we don't collect any personal information identifying you — the site and quizzes work fully anonymously, with your quiz history kept only in your own browser's local storage. Simply browsing the site does make lightweight, unauthenticated background calls to our backend on various pages — for example, checking whether you're logged in, or whether Google sign-in is available — and public pages like the leaderboard work the same way. Rather than list every single page this applies to (a list that would need updating every time we add or change a page), the short version is: any page can make one of these calls, and every one of them touches the same generic, IP-based rate-limiting mechanism — see the IP address bullet below for exactly how that's used and how long it's kept. None of this identifies you or is linked to any account unless you actually have one.

1. Information We Collect​

If you create an account (email/password or "Continue with Google"), we collect:

  • Email address — used to log you in, verify your account, and send account-related emails (verification, password reset).
  • Password — only ever stored as a salted cryptographic hash (via Werkzeug's scrypt); we never store or can retrieve your actual password.
  • Google account link (only if you use "Continue with Google") — your Google account ID, email, and the display name your Google profile shares with us. That name becomes your account's display name (see Section 4) unless you change it — it is not limited to signing you in.
  • Display name — shown on the public leaderboard only if you opt in (see Section 4).
  • Profile picture (avatar) — optional. Either pulled from your Google account (if you sign in with Google and have a public profile photo) or a photo you upload yourself from your Account page. It's resized and stored on our server, and shown next to your account (and on the leaderboard if you opt in).
  • Quiz activity — which quizzes you take, your answers, and your scores. This powers your progress history, streaks, and badges.
  • IP address — our application code holds this in server memory to enforce rate limits across the site's endpoints generally — account actions, syncing/starting a quiz, and even just viewing the public leaderboard, which needs no account at all — and doesn't write it to disk or a log file. In-memory counters for a given address can persist for as long as the server process keeps running (until the next restart/deploy), not just briefly, though nothing is ever retained beyond that. Standard web-server/reverse-proxy access logs at the hosting layer may separately record IP addresses — and, by normal server-log convention, full request URLs, which for a password-reset or email-verification link would include that single-use token — per normal infrastructure practice; this policy will be updated with specifics once a production hosting setup is finalized.

2. Cookies​

We use two kinds of cookies:

  • A strictly necessary session cookie — signed and HttpOnly, keeps you logged in for up to 30 days (or until you log out). This is set automatically and doesn't require consent under GDPR/ePrivacy rules, since it's strictly necessary for a feature you explicitly requested (staying logged in).
  • Google Analytics (GA4) cookies — set only if you click "Accept" on the cookie banner shown on your first visit. These help us understand aggregate site traffic (which pages are popular, roughly how visitors navigate the site); Google Analytics does not fire, and no analytics cookie is set, until you actively accept. You can decline on that banner, or change your mind anytime afterward via the "Cookie Settings" link in the footer — declining or withdrawing consent stops Analytics from loading, it isn't just a hidden banner.

We don't use cookies for advertising, and there are no third-party tracking cookies beyond Google Analytics (which itself only runs with your consent, per above).

3. How We Use Your Data​

Your data is used only to operate the features you're using: authenticating you, syncing your quiz progress across devices, computing streaks/badges, and (if you opt in) showing your display name on the leaderboard. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes.

4. Leaderboard​

The leaderboard is opt-in and off by default — you can turn it on or off at any time from your Account page. If you opt in, only your display name and score are shown publicly; your email address is never shown. Your default display name depends on how you signed up: with email/password, it defaults to the part of your email before the @; with "Continue with Google," it defaults to your real name from your Google profile. Either way, you can change your display name from your Account page at any time before opting in, if you'd prefer it not resemble your email or real name.

5. Data Retention​

We keep your account data for as long as your account exists. You can permanently delete your account and all associated data (quiz history, streaks, badges, profile picture) at any time from the Delete Account section of your Account page, or by emailing us at the address in Section 8 — deletion from our live database is immediate and cannot be undone. Note that routine database backups, kept for a limited rolling window (currently 14 days) purely for disaster-recovery purposes, may still contain your data for a short period after deletion, until that backup is rotated out; backups are not queried or used for anything other than restoring the service after a failure.

6. Sub-processors​

  • Resend — delivers our transactional emails (account verification, password reset, contact form). See Resend's Privacy Policy.
  • Google — two separate, independent uses: (1) "Continue with Google" sign-in, only if you choose to use it; and (2) Google Analytics (GA4), only if you accept the cookie banner (see Section 2) — used purely for aggregate traffic statistics, not to identify you individually. See Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Cloudflare — sits in front of our site as a reverse proxy/CDN for every visitor (not just account holders), for performance and abuse protection. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.

Where a sub-processor is located outside the EEA, we rely on the safeguards it maintains for international transfers (such as standard contractual clauses or a recognized adequacy framework) — see the linked policy above for that provider's specifics. Our own application server, which stores your account data, is hosted with Hetzner in the EU (Germany).

7. Your Rights (GDPR and elsewhere)​

You have the right to access, correct, export, delete, restrict, or object to our processing of your personal data. You can:

  • Update your display name and leaderboard preference anytime from your Account page.
  • Delete your entire account and all associated data anytime from your Account page (see Section 5).
  • Email us (Section 8) to access, restrict, or object to processing, or for anything else, including a copy of your data.

If you're in the EEA/UK, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

Processing of your account data (email, password, quiz activity, display name) is carried out on the basis of contract performance (GDPR Article 6(1)(b)) — it's necessary to provide the account features you signed up for. Processing your IP address for rate-limiting/abuse prevention (Section 1) is carried out on the basis of legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f)) — keeping the service's login and signup functions available and free of abuse.

8. Contact​

Questions about this policy, or need help with your data? Email us at [email protected].

9. Children's Privacy​

SiliconAcademia is intended for learners studying chip design (typically students and working engineers) and is not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect data from children under 13; if you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we'll delete it.

10. Changes to This Policy​

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date above. Continued use of the site after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.